Minister needs to steady the DIRCO ship before the ANC tipples it over

13 January 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls for the immediate dismissal of South Africa’s Ambassador to Italy, Shirish Soni. Ambassador Soni is being investigated for sexual harassment and lying about his qualification among other acts of misconduct. Serious concerns had been raised about Soni while he was still employed at the South African Revenue Service (SARS). Therefore, a mere recall is not good enough - the Ambassador must be fired.

The DA will be asking questions to the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Naledi Pandor, as to whether Mr Soni was properly cleared by security; why he was deployed while having serious allegations of misconduct to answer to; and why only a recall and not a dismissal?

Most importantly as was seen with former Ambassador Koloane, friends of the ANC are being deployed to positions abroad and when found wanting, they are simply recalled without any punitive action taken against them. The DA calls on the Minister to immediately stop the culture of DIRCO appointments as token rewards to friends and cadres of the ANC.

Issued by Darren Bergman,Shadow Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, 13 January 2020